


An unexpected result

by basil_s0up



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 15:25:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14381514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basil_s0up/pseuds/basil_s0up
Summary: Keith and Lance get a little tangled up during a mission. Bonding ensues.





	An unexpected result

"You know", Lance said, his voice uncharacteristically tense, "it's situations like this that make me wonder why I follow you anywhere."

The situation in question being him and Keith, suspended in a tangle of vines, several hundred feet from the surface of an alien planet.

"Well excuse me, Sharpshooter," Keith growled, "but we wouldn't even be in this mess if you hadn't tripped over your own damn feet and shoved us both out of that window!"

"What the hell was I supposed to do! Just stand there and let that sentry shoot me?!", Lance yelled.

"You have armour on, you would’ve been fine", said Keith, rolling his eyes.

"Says you!", Lance scoffed, "You're no armour expert!"

If he kept this up, Keith's eyes were going to be permanently rolled back. "I don't have to be! We know that the paladin suits can take more than a few hits."

"Well okay then, next time you can stand around and get hit while I take cover behind you!", Lance snapped.

"I wasn't - ", Keith slammed his mouth shut, closing his eyes and breathing deeply through his nose.

\- patience yields focus, patience yields focus, patience yields focus... - 

He let out one last deep breath, and opened his eyes.

"Alright, enough of the blame game. Let's just focus on getting out of here, okay?", Keith said in what he hoped was a calm tone.

Lance let out a huff, which Keith took as an agreement.

With that, he finally took a proper look around. 

Greenish brown vines, as far as the eye could see, looping around the branches and trunks of the surrounding trees. The leaves stripped off where he and Lance had come down, luckily breaking their fall. Keith risked another glance down, the forest floor a dizzying distance away. Very lucky, he thought with a gulp.

Turning his attention back to the plants wrapped around his limbs, he immediately pulled out his bayard and started hacking away at the ones on his left wrist.

Suddenly, a startled sound interrupted his movements.

"What the quiznak are you doing?", Lance hissed at him. "Do you want to fall to your death?"

Keith whipped around to glare at him. "Of course not! I'm going to cut these vines, and then use my jet pack to get down safely."

Now it was Lance's turn to roll his eyes. "Great plan, Samurai, except for the part where we used up all our fuel getting to the top of that stupid mountaintop base in the first place!"

Keith's movements immediately ceased. Oh. Right. He’d forgot about that. 

Not willing to admit that, he settled back into the ropey plants supporting him with a huff. "Well, what's your master plan then? I'm open to suggestions."

Lance brightened at his words. "Simple. We climb these vines to the treetops, call for help, and wait for Pidge to come and get us."

Keith blinked up at him. "Climb up?"

"Yeah! It'll be easy-peasy, just like the ropes in gym class. And, since the base is set to blow any minute now, we don't even have to worry about the galra taking pot-shots at us!". Lance nodded to himself, a satisfied smile on his face.

Keith blinked again. That was... actually a pretty good plan. Though to be fair, it's not like Lance was bad at making up plans. It was getting him focused enough to do so that was the problem. And, okay, he wasn't great at sticking to them himself, but that was just... Okay, no, not the time for introspection. Patience yields focus.

He took a second to school his features, and looked up at Lance, who was staring down at him, uncertainty creeping into his face.

Keith nodded up at him. "That's a good plan, Lance. Nice work".

A look of surprise flashed over Lance's face before his usual cocky smirk appeared. "But of course, mullet, I am the master of great plans."

Keith snorted, grabbing the vine above his head and hauling himself up. "Sure, sure. Let's get going."

Lance imitated his move, before looking down at him once again. A playful glint sparked in his eyes. "Race ya! Last one to the top is a rotten space egg!"

Without waiting for a reply, he starting climbing his way up, limber as a gymnast.

Keith froze momentarily, his stomach flipping at the sight of Lance's gleeful smile, before his brain kicked in. "Hey!", he laughed, scrambling to follow Lance up.

The two boys quickly made their way to the top, laughing and playfully trash talking each other as they went. In less than ten minutes, Lance let out a victorious whoop as he swung himself up onto the last branch.

"I win! I'm the king of the jungle!", Lance said between puffs of breath, punching his fists into the air.

Panting, Keith pulled himself up behind Lance. "I'm pretty sure it's a forest, not a jungle. And you cheated."

Lance rolled his eyes, letting out a snort. "Don't be a sore loser, mullet." But he was smiling as he said it, reaching out a hand to pull Keith to his feet. "This is no place for sour attitudes. Just look over there!"

Keith obediently looked over in the direction Lance was pointing. He raised his eyebrows, pleasantly surprised.

Over the treeline, above the jagged outline of the mountain that hosted the galra base, the planet's sun was setting. The odd purple sky was stained with various shades of blue, red, and deep indigo, as the star sank into the horizon.

"Wow", he breathed out, amazed by the unexpected show.

"Yeah", Lance sighed, "I gotta say, of all the things I miss about Earth, sunsets are one of ones I miss the most."

Keith turned to him, surprised and a more than a little pleased. It wasn't often Lance chose to share these kinds of intimate thoughts with him. But here he was, face peaceful as he watched the sunset, a small, sad smile on his face.

His eyes reflected the deep, cool colours of the sky, and Keith was suddenly very aware of his hand, still gently twined with Lances.

Keith could feel his face warming up, as his heart suddenly stuttered. What the quiznak? Sure, he had noticed Lance was a good looking guy, and a lot of fun too, when he wasn't being obnoxious, but... 

He gulped, palms getting sweaty as a new, unexpected thought occurred to him. Did Keith... like Lance? Like, like-like him?

He jumped, startled out of his thoughts as Lance let out a contented hum. "It sure it nice to have a peaceful moment like this, huh?"

Keith opened his mouth to reply (with what, he wasn't sure), when a beeping noise started emitting from their wrists.

Lance dropped his hand, bring the wrist display up to his face. An evil grin spread across his face. He turned to Keith, that playful glint back in his eyes. "Show time."

"What-", Keith was interrupted yet again, this time by a low rumbling sound, followed by an impressive bang, as the galra base they'd come to destroy finally erupted in a massive explosion. Oh right. The mission.

Keith mentally scolded himself for forgetting why they were even here in the first place. Lance, meanwhile, was laughing in delight, his hands in the air.

"Whoo! First the sunset, and now fireworks!". He turned to Keith excitedly. "Not bad for a crappy infiltration mission."

Returning the grin, Keith couldn't help but agree. "Definitely. Although, I'm not sure how successful an infiltration we can call it considering we got caught."

Lance snorted, a grin still fixed on his face. "C'mon bud, don't ruin the mood. We did it! Be happy!"

Holding up his hand for a high five, Keith couldn't hold back a grin of his own as he returned it.

"Yeah, okay we did good. Now let's call Pidge and get off this rock."

Lance's smile widened, before he turned his attention to his comms, his gaze (and that smile) still fixed on Keith.

Keith felt his face heating up again as his stomach fluttered. So, maybe Lance wasn't so bad. Maybe he was actually pretty great. And while it may not be the best time to be exploring these new found feelings, it was still a step in the right direction.

After all, Keith had no guarantee that Lance would return them (did he even like men?), but anything that helped their relationship improve was good in his book.

And for now? Now, he had Lance's smile fixed on him, the lingering warmth in his fingertips, as the first stars of an alien twilight twinkled into being around them.


End file.
